Art and Design: UNIT 8 Assembly of my Final Design: Etching and final touches.

Problem Solving

Health and Safety

Step 1. After having a few practise runs of etching onto plastic I found it was a lot more easy and controllable on plastic and I felt comfortable enough to begin etching the designs onto the plastic cross sections. I wore ear defenders whilst using this tool.

Step 2. I then started etching the designs onto the plastic cross sections; to ensure each layer lined up with one another after completing the first layer I traced the etching lines onto tracing paper which I then placed underneath the next layer to line up the layers accurately without damaging the plastic.

Step 3. I then started to slot in each of the layers however I found that the MDF had swelled due to the paint therefore I had to file out the slots in order for the plastic to fit in properly. I also found that as I slotted in each layer it was pushing the MDF to start closing up the next slot therefore I had to file more vigorously to correct the problem to prevent it from acting as a domino effect down the slots.

Step 4. I made sure all of the cross sections were pushed in exactly 12 mm so that the excess material was hidden and to ensure the light would become trapped in the plastic.

Step 5. Due to filling out the slots the paint around the slots had chipped therefore using a very fine paintbrush I touched up the paint being careful to avoid damaging or painting the plastic layers.

Step 6. The final step was to start gluing down the LED lights onto the painted side of the backboard. I had to evenly spread out the lighting along the backboard and make sure the wire would come out of the corner I cut for the electrical wiring.

Step 7. I found that I had glued the lighting too close to the edge and I struggled to put the backboard back onto the base therefore I used nails to push back the lighting away from the edge to fit the back board in. Making sure to be careful when using the hammer.

My final piece is now complete but just to ensure my sculpture was finished and had no issues that needed resolving I mounted my sculpture and performed a light test. My sculpture worked perfectly and I was extremely happy with the results.